Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson plan which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils...

Help your young writers use logic in their persuasive writing. Discuss the characteristics of a persuasive paper, and have pupils work together to explore and solve a syllogism. They will write a short persuasive paper which includes a...

From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...

Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details...

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...

In this open mind worksheet, students draw pictures, symbols or images inside an outline of a head. Students will respond to a quote or idea; this is open ended and can be used in many ways.

High schoolers are introduced to the concept of cultural exchange and identify two examples of the concept. Individually, they research two specific examples of exchange and write about how it affected the two groups involved. They...

Eighth graders explore the historical roots of fundamentalism and determine whether fundamentalism is a religion or a political ideology. They will examine different religious fundamentalist movements around the world noting any...

Tenth graders identify and clarify a problem, an issue, or an inquiry.They plan and conduct library and community research using primary and secondary print and non-print sources, including electronic sources. Students generate and...